Family
by shanejayell
Summary: Nao Yuuki's father returns, bringing with him her half sister... Akane from Kampfer!
1. New Sisters

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Kampfer or Mai Hime, they belong to their respective creators. I'm just borrowing the characters, please don't sue me.

Kampfer/Mai Hime: Family

"This is so bogus," Nao Yuuki muttered as the redheaded young woman waited in the office. She had been summoned to meet with her father, who apparently had decided to re-enter her life after abandoning her and mother years go.

Nao sighed, knowing her mother would probably scold her if she heard such thoughts. Mom would probably say something about how the breakup was mutual and best for them both, or something. She loved her mother dearly, but sometimes she thought her mother was a sap.

"I think I'm rather looking forward to meeting him," Mashiro Kazahana said mildly, the light purple haired girl sitting nearby in her wheelchair.

"So can I leave and you meet him?" Nao suggested dryly.

"I think you should be here," Mashiro answered dryly.

"Huh," Nao scowled, sitting back with a sigh.

Her father arrived a few minutes later, looking much like Nao had remembered. The brown haired man looked like your average salary man, if Nao was being charitable. Mr. Mishima nodded respectfully to Mashiro, then gave Nao a oddly searching look.

"Nao, I'm truly sorry,." Mishima said meekly, "I only found out about your mother's injuries a few weeks ago." Somewhat plaintively he added, "Why didn't you call me? I would have helped..."

Nao felt her mouth flatten in controlled annoyance. "You're remarried with a family," she said flatly, "and Mom made it pretty clear you wanted us to stay away."

He visibly flinched, then sighed. "That's true," Mishima conceded, "but you're family too, Nao. I would have helped you."

Nao looked away, frowning.

The older man sat up straight, his expression becoming more determined. "Miss Kazahana," Mishima said firmly, "I came to inform you I am officially applying for custody of Nao Yuuki."

Nao looked at him in shock, "WHAT?"

**0o0o0o0o Several Months Later o0o0o0o0**

"Big sister Nao! It's time for school!" her little sister Akane Mishima called cutely, banging on Nao's door.

With a groan Nao rolled out of bed, wishing her new younger sister wasn't so damn sweet. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Nao growled, grabbing her clothes and trotting in just her panties out the door to the bathroom.

"Nao!" Akane flushed, covering her face with her hands.

"What, we're both girls," Nao said dryly as she washed up, then quickly pulled her new school uniform on.

"But still...," Akane sighed, her red-brown hair neatly held back by a headband and her round glasses gleaming.

Nao bit back another sigh as she emerged in the white shirt and black skirted version of a sailor uniform. "Did some perverted old man design this?" she asked, tugging at the skirt.

"It's not that bad," Akane sighed as the two girls said goodbye to the parents and headed out.

"Yeah, yeah," Nao sighed.

Nao thought about what she had heard about her new school and sighed again. Seitetsu Gakuin High School was a co-ed school, but a decidedly odd one. Instead of students mingling the school was seperated into a girls and boys wing, and a literal check point between them to allow access. In Nao's opinion it was nuts, and worse it would prevent her from doing her usual money making schemes.

"You don't seem excited about going to a new school, big sister," Akane said tentatively as they walked to the bus together.

"Oh, I'm just thrilled," Nao said dryly. She frowned as she saw a blue haired young man waving and asked, "Friend of yours?"

Akane looked where she was pointing, then went the cutest shade of red. "N.. no!" she blushed.

'Yeah, right,' Nao thought, then waved her arm to the guy, "Hey! Come on over!"

Akane blushed even brighter as he trotted over. He was about Nao's age, she'd guess, and seemed reasonably fit. Didn't look too bright, but most guys didn't in her opinion.

"Hi," he smiled, "I'm Natsuru Seno, are you one of Akane's friends?"

"No, I'm her older half-sister," Nao answered bluntly, "Nao Yuuki, pleased to meet you."

"Oh, uhm...," the younf man looked uncomfortable, which was exactly Nao's intention. As he scratched the back of his head his sleeve rode up, revealing a blue wristband, one similar to what Akane also wore.

"What's up with the wristbands?" Nao asked. She smirked, "You two aren't dating are you?"

"No!" Akane yelped, blushing furiously.

Natsuru blushed too but he said, "We're just friends."

From the cross look on Akane's face she wasn't too happy with the just friend's bit, which Nao found kind of cute, oddly. "How long have you known each other?" she asked curiously as they boarded the bus and headed out.

"A.. about a year," Akane admitted shyly.

'Wonder what's taking them so long?' Nao wondered, then decided it wasn't any of her business. "I hope you two will help me out in school," she asked mildly.

"Of course," Natsuru agreed, the bus trundling along.

The school was about as bad as Nao was expecting, though there was one other unusual complication. As the teacher was introducing her to her classmates, Nao was faintly startled to see unbridled lust in some of the girl's eyes.

'What the hell...?' Nao blinked as the class totally ignored the teacher's command to settle down and rushed her.

"Oh Nao-chan you're so cute!" one woman squealed.

"Back! Back!" Nao clawed, wishing she could just summon her element. Too bad she was trying to keep a low profile here...

"Nao, could you just breathe on me?" another girl asked perkilly even as Nao kicked someone in the face.

"Get off her," the teacher growled, bodilly pitching people around the room. "Sorry, Miss Yuuki," she apologized, sighing, "they're not usually this bad."

"They'd better not be," Nao growled.

Class settled down, and Nao found out why the girls were so rowdy. Apparently one of the three shool idols was 'missing' and the girls were looking for someone to take her place. "Better not be me," Nao told them flatly.

"But you're so cute, Nao!" one of the girls sighed dreamilly.

"Trust me, I am not cute," Nao growled back again dangerously.

Deciding it might be best to escape class during lunch, Nao pushed through the adoring girls and headed to the library to visit with Akane. 'She's even in the library club,' Nao thought, shaking her head, 'how pitiful can you get?'

The library was one of the few places boys could visit with girls, though there were only a few around. Amusingly she saw Akane and a dark purple haired woman both talking to Natsuru, who looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Nao smirked, walking up to the group.

"Ah, Nao-chan," Natsuru actually looked relieved while Akane pouted a bit and the other woman looked Nao over thoughtfully.

"And who is this?" she asked thoughtfully, looking Nao over.

"Shizuku Sango, meet Nao Yuuki," Akane said quickly. "Nao is my half sister."

"Charmed," Shizuku nodded.

"You did say Shizuku, not Shizuru right?" Nao confirmed, her eyes slightly wide. She looked at the dark purple haired woman curiously, "You're not the Student Council President, are you?"

"Yes I am, actually," Shizuku conceded gracefully.

Nao shook her head as she muttered, "This is just too much of a coincidence..."

Just then the doors to the library slammed open, and a brown haired woman was revealed, leading four other women. "Natsuru, I've found you!" she declared then pointed, "White Kampfers, attack!"

"What the FUCK!" Nao yelped as the girls suddenly summoned up weapons and charged.

"Nao, down!" Akane suddenly sounded much more determined and confident. Nao blinked in shock as the girl's mousy brown hair turned red, her glasses disappeared and she suddenly looked just like Nao.

'I guess we really are related,' Nao blinked, stunned even as a pistol appeared in Akane's hands and she opened fire.

Shizuku gestured as twin knives appeared in her hands, connected by a long chain, "We will not let you take Natsuru, Kaede!"

Reminded of the young man Nao looked back, only to gape in shock. Natsuru's clothes shredded away and reformed as his body reshaped itself into a girl's! She blushed when she saw Nao looking but charged forward, throwing fire balls from her hands.

Nao watched as the three girls did combat, and had to admit they were doing pretty well. But the women attacking outnumbered them, and the three looked like they were trying not to hurt the others. Which, in Nao's opinion, was fucking stupid.

"I guess I better take a hand," Nao said as she stood up, stretching out her hands as she muttered, "materialize!"

"Fuck yeah! Come on!" Akane yelled as the redhead winged one girl, then scooted aside from another attack. As confident as she was trying to sound it was five against three, and they were gonna get nailed eventually...

Just then a length of what looked like spider webbing shot by her, entangling one of the White Kampfer. Akane turned then blinked in astonishment as she saw Nao with some kind of red and gold... gloves? Or something. Which were firing off the webs, entangling the attackers even as Natsuru and Shizuku attacked. In moments it was all over, most of the girls tied up and the other fleeing.

"I'll be back!" Kaede yelled as she ran away.

"And to think," Nao sauntered up to them with a smile as she said, "I thought this school was going to be boring." She looked at Akane, "What's with your and Natsuru's new looks?"

"It's a long story," Akane said, looking at her near twin with a grin.

"I got time," Nao shrugged, laughing.

To be continued...?

Notes: Well, maybe continued. We'll see. Inspired by how Akane's Kampfer form looks just like Nao from Mai Hime. I got to wondering if Akane and Nao might be related, and came up with the idea they might have the same dad.


	2. Complications

Family

Two: Complications

Nao Yuuki looked at the stuffed black bunny with a knife sticking out of it's guts with an expression of mild disbelief. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," she muttered, the redhead shaking her head.

"Hey, unplug your ears!" Seppuku Kuro Usagi shot back, the bunny glaring at her, "I don't have to be telling you any of this! I'm just talking to you as a favor to Akane."

"Don't give me lip," Nao picked up the swearing bunny by it's ears and shook it, "or I'll rip your stuffing out."

"I'm sorry about his bad attitude," Akane Mishima sighed, back to her more normal, meek self. They were both in her overly pink bedroom, getting a briefing from the bunny. "Now please, put him down," she begged.

"Okay, let me see if I got this straight," Nao said with a grim smile as she put the toy down. "You and your friends are magical girls called Kampfer, and originally you fought among yourselves based on the color of your bracelets."

"Right," the rabbit nodded.

"Which has to be the dumbest reason to fight ever," Nao muttered.

"No editorial comments, dumbass," the bunny growled but shut up when Nao gave it a threatening look.

"Then you found out that your buddy Kaede was really with the Moderators controlling the fighting, and that she wanted Natsuru's girl form," Nao said dubiously.

"Yes," Akane said with a blush.

"So when you guys refused to keep fighting each other Kaede created a third group of White Kampfer, and is now trying to kick your asses and take Natsuru away for some reason," Nao finished a bit dubiously.

"Though she's more interested in bedding girl Natsuru for whatever reason," the rabbit added. It actually seemed to leer as it added, "She's got it as bad for Natsuru as our Akane does."

"I do not!" Akane yelped. "I mean, I like boy Natsuru not...," she paused, "not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Uh huh," Nao looked at her little sister thoughtfully, "and how does that explain your erotic dojin collection?"

Akane went beet red, "How did you know?"

A grinning Nao reached out and gently poked the girl's blushing cheek as she said, "You just confirmed it."

Akane's mouth dropped open as the rabbit chuckled. "I like you," the black rabbit said with a grin, "you're sharp."

"Meanie," Akane sighed, blushing.

"Heh," Nao grinned. She looked over at her little sister thoughtfully, "So, have you told Natsuru how you feel about him?"

Akane flushed, looking away. "No," she admitted softly, "you see, he seems to think we're just friends, so..."

"Well, we'll have to figure out something then," Nao said, nodding. Not that she really cared that her sister was chasing that dweeb, but she figured helping out might be fun. "So is there anyone else after him other than Kaede?" she asked.

"Uhm," Akane hesitated then added, "Shizuku Sango also likes him."

"The Student Council president?" Nao raised her eyebrows, "You don't think small when you pick your rivals, do ya?"

"It's not intentional," Akane sighed weakly.

One might wonder why a seemingly self absorbed girl like Nao Yuuki would be trying to hep her half sister. Part of it was that Nao was stuck with the Mishima family for the time being, as her father was her only living relative. She could maybe fight to be a emancipated minor, but it was a load of trouble to apply for it. Also, from her perspective she only had to put up with this until she was legally an adult.

And, to be honest, Nao kind of liked Akane. Yes the kid was a bit dopey but she was nice, and it was fun teasing her about her not-so-hidden perverted side. She reminded her a bit of Mai Tokhia, though thankfully not as annoying. Hell, Nao even sorta liked her new stepmother, which should be against the law or something.

"Nao, time to get up!" her step-mom called the next morning as Nao fell out of her bed onto the floor.

"Oww," Nao winced, wondering what the hell she had been dreaming about. Shaking her head she got up, stretching, then stalked out of her room in just her bra and panties to go to the bathroom. Her sister was entertainingly scandalized, again.

"You really need to stop doing that," Akane complained as they hurried out of their house and down the street.

Nao walked along calmly, smiling as she said, "You'd think you and your mother never saw a girl in lingerie before."

Akane blushed furiously, "Where did you get such racy...?"

"Going away gift from my classmate, Natsuki Kuga," Nao answered. Thoughtfully she added, "I was actually a bit surprised she was into stuff like that."

"I see," Akane nodded.

"Hey, Akane! Nao!" Natsuru called, the blue haired young man waiting at their usual spot.

"Natsuru, good morning," Akane smiled up at him just like a puppy.

"Morning," Nao smiled, the three walking to school together. "Natsuru, there's something I've been meaning to ask," she noted.

"Oh?" Natsuru answered, having already learned to be wary of Nao's sharp tongue.

"The first time you transformed," Nao quietly asked, "did you try feeling yourself up?"

"NAO?" Akane yelped, blushing furiously and looking scandalized. Interestingly Natsuru went red too, blushing red as a tomato.

"You DID didn't you?" Nao pressed, smirking.

"Just to see if they were real," Natsuru stammered as he tried to clarify, "it wasn't in a perverted way or anything."

"Really?" Nao drawled. She smirked as she dropped her voice a bit, "You should really try everything out, I understand women are more... responsive then men."

"Nao!" Akane peeped, even brighter red than before. "You are such a pervert," she growled.

"And proud of it," Nao said casually. She smiled at Natsuru, "You really need to get over your inhibitions, Natsuru. You're missing opportunities all over the place."

"Huh?" Natsuru answered, the boy clearly not getting that she was referring to the still fiercely blushing Akane.

They arrived at school a few minutes later, Akane mostly recovering from her blushes by then. A young woman was leaning against the gate waiting, her expression brightening as she saw them coming. "Natsuru!" she called, waving.

"Hey, Mikoto!" Natsuru waved to the brown haired, athletic girl who was looking at him adoringly. Thankfully, he seemed pretty much oblivious to it.

"Yet another rival?" Nao whispered to Akane, "what, did Natsuru get dumped in Axe when I wasn't looking?"

Akane giggled softly as they watched the two talk, "She's his childhood friend, but has been away following her father."

Nao shook her head ruefully. Didn't Akane read TV Tropes? A childhood friend was the worst sort of love rival! "Don't underestimate her," she warned her little sister seriously.

"So you're Nao Yuuki, right?" Mikoto asked brightly.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Nao shot back calmly.

Mikoto raised her hand defensively, "No, I was just asked to deliver a message." Seriously she added, "The Student Council President wants to see you."

Natsuru's eyes widened slightly then he patted Nao on her shoulder. "Good luck," he wished her seriously.

"We'll always remember you," Akane agreed.

"She's not THAT bad is she?" Nao had to ask, but no one would answer her.

Shizuku Sango sat in the office, her one leg crossed over the other as she projected a sexy, dominant aura. Her long purple hair shimmered faintly, and a slight smile teased her lips as she studied Nao calmly.

'Damn it, she HAS to be related to Fujino somehow,' Nao thought to herself, 'this many similarities can't be a coincidence.' 

"Miss Yuuki, I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to talk to you earlier," Shizuku said smoothly, "and welcome to our school."

"Thanks," Nao said, trying hard not to be intimidated. "So, why did you want to see me?" she asked forcefully.

Shizuku smiled, completely unruffled as she said, "First, I wanted to thank you for assisting when Kaede and her White Kampfers attacked. I'm not sure if we would have won without you."

'And that and a few yen will get me a cup of coffee,' Nao thought. She also remembered a saying about bewaring the gratitude of princes, but she wasn't sure that applied. "You're welcome," Nao said dryly.

"As well, I have a favor to ask," Shizuku continued smoothly.

'I knew it!' Nao thought even as she answered, "Yes?"

"As head of the student council, I've done my best to keep the Kampfer battles a secret from the general student body," Shizuku revealed, "I'd appreciate your cooperation in this."

"As in, don't get into fights with my powers where I could get caught," Nao noted thoughtful.

"Crudely put, but yes," Shizuku nodded slightly.

"I don't wanna get carted off to a government lab and get dissected, so I have every reason to keep my head down," Nao conceded, "but what about Kaede? She don't seem so tightly wound, from what I've heard."

"I've made it clear to her not to be so obvious," Shizuku answered, "I have some... leverage on her."

Somehow, Shizuku sounded like some kind of gangster. Still, Nao was glad to avoid attacks be crazy ladies. "Well, I'll help out as much as I can," Nao offered politely.

"Thank you," Shizuku nodded regally, "you will find me... very appreciative."

To be continued...


	3. Romance?

Family

Three

This was the first time Nao Yuuki had a long exposure to the girl version of Natsuru, and to be honest she was kind of startled how attractive the girl was. Okay, so blue hair wasn't Nao's thing, but she had excellent proportions, a attractive face and a sweet sort of innocent aura.

"Damn it Seno, did someone dip you in Axe this morning or something?" Nao demanded as they walked to school, Akane by her side.

"Huh?" the blue haired girl blinked back at her innocently.

'Probably brainlessly too,' Nao thought to herself darkly.

Natsuru also seemed entirely oblivious to the girls and guys who were all looking at her with dreamy, love filled eyes. Or lust filled, in some cases. The only reason they weren't being mobbed was probably traditional Japanese restraint.

"I don't quite get it either," Akane admitted to Nao quietly, the brown haired girl shrugging slightly, "but everyone seems to be hit by it."

"Maybe a special power?" Nao wondered, frowning.

"I wish I knew," Akane sighed.

They made it into class with no incidents, thankfully, and Nao was not in Natsuru's class. She did sneak out during a break and took a look at Natsuru and Akane's class, which was surrounded by fangirls. The halls were mobbed! There were girls from different classes and grades, all jostling to catch a glimpse of Natsuru.

"Damn," Nao shook her head ruefully, wondering what had gotten into the girls.

"So, you're Nao Yuuki?" the unfamiliar voice asked her from way too close by.

Nao turned quickly, frowning at the other girl thoughtfully as she swiftly sized her up. The young lady wore the slightly perverted looking sailor uniform they all wore, and she had the oddest shade of dark purple hair. "Yeah?" Nao asked flatly.

The girl didn't seem bothered by the unfriendly reception, instead she just smiled back cheerfully. "Hi, I'm Masumi Nishino from Class 1-3, my blood type is B, my grades are lower average and my hobby is to fall asleep listening to music," the perky girl beamed.

"So?" Nao demanded, looking the girl over with her best dangerous look, one she had copied from Natsuki Kuga.

Masumi paled a bit under her gaze, but forged on bravely as she confessed to Nao, "I'm in the Newspaper Club."

"Oh, hell, no," Nao yelped, turning around and walking away.

"Wait, please," Masumi hurried after her as she explained, "our club likes to interview any new transfer students to the girl's wing."

Nao had to elbow her way through a crush of girls, not helped by several recognizing her as the popular new transfer student. "Not interested," she said over her shoulder.

Masumi cheated by dropping to the floor and crawling between the girls' legs, though there were several squeals of surprise as she passed. "Come on!" she hopped to her feet and grabbed Nao's arm, "You're nearly as popular as Natsuru-sama. If you don't say something all kinds of rumors will start to spread."

Nao scowled, but she had to admit the girl could be right. Just letting the rumors spread on their own certainly wouldn't help her, and if she talked to the reporter she might at least control it With a sigh she looked at Masumi and asked, "All right, where do we do this thing?"

"Come on," Masumi smiled, tugging at her hand.

The ended up at the Newspaper club room, of course. Masumi tried to dim the lights and 'spotlight' Nao with a lamp, but Nao made her turn the lights back on. "All right," Nao sat down as she said, "let's get on with it."

"Spoil sport," Masumi muttered then brightened up a bit. "Okay, I did a bit of research into you," she said briskly.

"Uh huh," Nao gave her a wary look.

"I understand you only recently moved to the area, and are living with your step sister Akane," Masumi said, "how did that happen?"

"My mother was assaulted last year and put in a coma," Nao said, keeping her emotions tightly controlled, "and when my stepfather found out he willingly offered his assistance."

"It must be hard getting used to a new home," Masumi noted gently.

"My sister Akane's been a big help," Nao admitted, "and she's introduced me around to her friends as well."

Masumi checked a piece of paper on her desk, "What do you think of same-sex couples?"

Nao thought of Natsuki and Shizuru, not to mention that closet case Haruka and Yukino. "Nothing wrong with it," she shrugged.

"I see," Masumi nodded, making a note. "Do you have a secret you'd never tell anyone?"

"I have spider powers and use them to punish perverts," Nao smirked.

"Oh, you!" Masumi laughed, scribbling down a note.

The rest of the interview was pretty run of the mill, then Nao took off. Masumi told her the story would hit the school newspaper in a few days, and promised to give Nao a copy.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Nao realized something was wrong almost as soon as she and Akane reached school. A younger girl, maybe a first year, rushed up to Nao with a envelope in hand. "Nao-sempai, please take this!" she yelped, blushing furiously.

Nao blinked at her, then took the envelope warily. "Sure," she said.

The girl beamed as several other young ladies nearly squealed with happiness. They scampered off chattering happily, several commenting, "I'm so impressed you confessed to Nao-sempai!"

'Confessed?' Nao thought, ripping the note open as they hurried into class.

It was on pink paper, with enough cute stickers on it to make someone ill. And yes, it was a 'love confession' though it was a bit scattered considering Nao had barely been here a week.

"What the hell?" Nao blinked.

"I think it's kind of cute," Akane noted mildly.

Nao gave Akane a withering look as she asked, "But why in hell would someone decide to send me a love letter?"

She found the answer out quickly enough when Nao got to her class room. A copy of the just released school newspaper was on her desk, with her photo on the front cover. Worse was the headline, "Lesbians are okay by me!"

"What the...?" Nao growled out, scanning the article quickly. Thankfully there wasn't anything TOO bad, but clearly Masumi had taken a lot of notes and enjoyed quoting people out of context. Crumpling the paper in her fist Nao hissed, "I'm gonna kill her."

"Please don't," one of her classmates noted mildly, "we'd have to take up a collection to bail you out of jail, and that's SO troublesome."

Nao snorted in amusement, which was enough to break her out of her momentary homicidal mania. "Thanks," she smiled, "you're Junko Yamakawa, right?"

Junko smiled, her black hair framing her face cutely. "I'm surprised you remembered," she noted cheerfully, "things have been pretty hectic for you."

Nao nodded slightly as she agreed, "You got that right."

Junko looked a little apologetic as she said, "I hate to make things more difficult, but a messenger from the Student Council arrived. The president wants to see you."

"Oh lovely," Nao sighed.

Nao still wasn't quite sure what to make of Shizuku Sango. The student council president was cool and confident, with her long dark purple hair and steady gaze. But there was also a impish side to her, though she seemed to do her best to keep it hidden. According to Kaede she was interested in Natsuru too, but it was hard to see.

Nearing the office Shizuku used Nao slowed, hearing two women arguing inside. She recognized Shizuku saying, "All I am asking you to do is practice restraint. I doubt your superiors would be happy with revealing the Kampfer."

"You don't control me, Shizuku," the woman said coldly. Getting nearer Nao recognized her as Kaede, the crazy bitch who had attacked them on her first day.

"I'm not interested in controlling you, Kaede," Shizuku sounded sad as she looked at her. "We were friends, once..."

There was a beat of silence, then Kaede answered her, "What we were doesn't matter. Natsuru will be mine!" 

Nao let herself be seen as she moved into the doorway, standing ready to move quickly if she needed to. "That sounds kind of creepy, really," she noted calmly, "doesn't Natsuru get to pick?"

Kaede whirled around, glaring at Nao. The brown haired woman had a hell of a figure, reminding Nao once again of her own more average bust, and she would have been attractive if her pretty face wasn't twisted by hate.

"You," Kaede hissed.

"Me," Nao agreed, "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm the girl who helped kick your White Kampfer's asses."

Shizuku covered her mouth with her hand, fighting back a chuckle. Kaede glared at her at Nao, then strode out of the room. "This isn't over," she said, and it wasn't clear which of the girls she was addressing.

"Friendly, isn't she?" Nao asked Shizuku wryly as she went into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Thank you," Shizuku said, "though I fear you have made a enemy today."

"She pretty much was one anyway," Nao shrugged eloquently, "and what's one more?"

"Still, I appreciate it," Shizuku said seriously, meeting Nao's eyes with a odd sort of intensity.

Nao decided a subject change was probably a good idea. "So, why did you want to see me?" she asked instead.

"I assume you've seen the paper?" Shizuku looked amused as she leaned against the table casually. "I wanted to make sure you were fine."

"Well, other than a sudden confession of love from a random girl, I'm okay," Nao rolled her eyes. "Oh, and my shoe locker was filled with notes."

Shizuku looked amused, "Read them yet?"

"God no," Nao snorted, "I may throw out the lot of them..."

To be continued!

Note: Junko Yamakawa is a OC, but I don't expect her to DO much. The name if from a fusion of two Kampfer voice actresses names.


	4. Combat!

Family

Four

"You know, it's kind of nice seeing this craziness happen to someone else," Natsuru noted, the blue haired girl sitting with her friends in the cafeteria.

Nao stabbed her lunch pointedly. "Yuck it up," she said dryly, "when I get my hands on that reporter she'll wish she never wrote that."

Her sister Akane looked at Nao nervously, not sure if her sister was joking or not. "Don't do anything rash," she said mildly.

Mikoto looked amused, the brown haired girl eating her own food. "Did you really throw out the love letters?" she asked.

Nao made a growling noise. "I tried to, but Akane told me throwing them away at school would be cruel to the girls who left them," she answered.

"So you're going to answer them all?" Natsuru asked.

"No, I'm going to throw them out on the way home, so my fans don't find out about it," Nao answered her dryly.

"Mean," Mikoto said, but she sounded kind of admiring too.

Akane wasn't quite sure how serious Nao was being too. I mean, she had certainly gone to the trouble of carefully picking up the notes and putting them in her bag. Would she do all that just to throw them out?

Nao finished off her lunch as she quietly noted, "I overheard Kaede having a argument with Shizuka earlier. I really don't think that chick is too tightly wrapped."

At the mention of her former friend and crush Natsuru sighed softly, the other woman looking down into her food with a sad expression. "She was normal before all this Kamper stuff happened," she said a bit plaintively.

"Or she was a really good actress," Akane muttered.

Nao smiled, happy to see her little sister could be a little sharper than usual. "Either way," she said, "I think we'd better be careful, just in case. She was REALLY pissed."

"But," a silky, almost sexy voice said from right behind her, "I don't think she'll do anything on school grounds."

"Eep!" Nao yelped, whirling around to see the student council president looking at her with amusement. "Don't DO that," she growled.

Shizuku Sango ignored the astonished looks from various students as the elegant and sexy woman sat down. "You look cute when you're angry," she teased Nao with a faint smile.

Natsuru blinked, wondering when Shizuku had decided to target Nao for teasing rather than her. Not that she minded, really, but it was a bit confusing. "Did you do something to convince Kaede not to do anything at school?" she asked.

"I think I've convinced her for now," Shizuku shrugged. "However, I think we will be in danger off school grounds."

"We'd better travel in groups." Mikoto suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Akane agreed as she and Mikoto both looked at Natsuru and asked, "Could you walk me home?" Then both girls glared at each other.

Nao bit back a snicker. "No fighting girls, there's plenty of Natsuru to go around."

Shizuku also looked amused as she noted, "I almost wish I could join you, it sounds like things would be quite enjoyable."

"Seriously, we probably should leave school as a group," Nao admitted reluctantly, "I could see them trying to pick us off."

With a straight face Shizuku looked at Nao and drawled, "Are you asking me out?"

Nao was just taking a drink of her juice when Shizuku asked, and the liquid went down the wrong pipe. She coughed and choked as Akane pounded her on the back, recovering enough to glare at the other girl. "Don't you ever quit it?" she coughed.

"No," Shizuku smirked. Somewhat more seriously she said, "I'm afraid my student council duties will keep me late today, but I don't think I'll be in any danger."

Akane looked worried, "But still..."

"Someone should go with you, just to be safe," Mikoto said with a frown.

Nao sighed with agrivation even as she finished cleaning up the juice she sprayed. "Okay, Akane, Mikoto, you two walk Natsuru home. Stay in open spaces with lots of people around, I don't think Kaede is nuts enough to start something in public," she said briskly.

"Right," Akane said, glad someone was taking charge.

"I'll stay here after class and walk Shizuku home," Nao said with a sigh, "god knows I have enough of school during the day. Why not stay after class too?"

"You really don't have to...," Shizuku started.

"Zip it," Nao said briskly, "you can't rely on Kaede being your friend to protect you, you know. If she's really cracked in the head, she may not care."

Shizuku hesitated, then nodded in surrender. "Very well," she said, "can you wait in the student council rooms after class? I'll finish up as quickly as I can and we'll walk home."

"Sounds like a plan," Nao sighed

Later on in class Nao tried to pay attention, even as she considered what was going on. She really wasn't looking forward to having to wait around after class. Still, it was for a... she paused, wondering how she'd describe her relationship with Shizuku. Friends? She barely knew her. Ally, maybe. Or possibly pain in the ass.

Class dragged on but eventually it ended, and Nao quickly escaped before any of the crazier fangirls showed up. She had been here for more than a week but apparently the 'fever' hadn't died down yet. Nao was devoutly hoping someone new would get the girl's attention, but so far it hadn't happened.

Nao reached the rooms used by the student council and went inside, pausing to look around at the nicely decorated place. She really wondered at how powerful the council was, considering the rooms and things she had heard. Apparently Shizuku could manipulate the school with ease, geyt people registered for classes and even cover up the ongoing Kampfer wars.

"I should have brought a game with me," Nao muttered as she sat down by the long table.

Thankfully it wasn't long before Shizuku arrived, her long purple hair shimmering as she walked. "Thank you for waiting, Nao," she smiled slightly.

"Yeah, yeah," Nao shrugged as she picked up her school bag. "You got your books?" she asked her briskly.

Shizuku gracefully picked up her own book bag and they headed out into the hallways together. "Thank you again for doing this," Shizuku noted mildly.

Nao warilly checked their surroundings as they left the school and headed off down the street. "It's fine," she answered, "you're Akane's friend, and she'd be upset if you got whacked."

Shizuku chuckled at that. "She didn't actually say that, did she?" she asked.

"No, but her Kampfer form might," Nao admitted. As they walked she noted, "At first, I sort of thought that Kampfer were people's repressed sides coming forward, but you don't seem to change. Or Mikoto, too."

Shizuku gave her a look of mild respect. "Most of the others don't seem to be interested in figuring out the mysteries of the Kampfer." She continued, "You're right, the personality changes don't seem to be consistant."

"You're not claiming to have a repressed side that comes forward?" Nao raised a eyebrow.

Shizuku smiled impishly, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Nao was looking at her when she saw a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. Without a thought she tackled Shizuku as she barked, "Gun!"

The machine gun coughed out bullets, splatting against the wall they were near, even as both girls crawled for better cover. Bullets pocked into the stone and dinged distressingly off a nearby lamp post as people screamed and ran for cover.

"So much for them not attacking in public," Nao growled as a dark ble haired girl with a cute hairclip blazed away wildly with her gun.

"Indeed," Shizuku growled as her red wristband blazed. Her knives appeared in her hands as she said, "She's a White Kampfer."

"What was your first hint!" Nao shot back.

Shizuku ignored that, "We ran into her before, she's Ryouka Yamakawa."

"Please give up peacefully," the girl yelled weakly, "If I have to shoot you both it would be a terrible mess."

Nao blinked. "Is she serious?" she asked Shizuku.

"I'm afraid so," Shizuku admitted.

Ryouka fired off another burst of those annoyingly limitless bullets, keeping the two pinned down. "All we want is for Mistress Sakura to get Natsuru," she continued as she fired off bursts of bullets, "just cooperate and it'll be easier for us all."

"I could take her if she wasn't laying down covering fire," Shizuku scowled, ignoring the request for their surrender.

Nao sighed as she summoned her own power, the red and gold glove appearing over her hand. "Can you keep her attention a minute?" she asked, resigned.

"Of course," Shizuku smiled confidently. With no warning she bolted from their shelter, racing along the sidewalk. Ryouka was so startled she fired wildly, then tried to get focused on the fleeing woman.

Seizing the moment Nao went around cars and over a bush to get behind the girl. Even as Ryouka was asking for them to surrender again she struck, spraying spider webbing from her hand and tangling the girl up.

"Eeek!" Ryouka squealed. "Help! Rapist! Pervert!"

"Hey, I'm not," Nao said, offended just as she felt a presence behind her.

The attractive blond with a sword glared at Nao. "I'm introducing myself because I must, not because I like you or anything," she sniffed, "I'm Sayaka Nakao, surrender. I have the drop on you."

Nao met her eyes confidently as in the background Ryouka begged someone to free her. "I really doubt that'll last," she said.

"Eh?" Sayaka started when a knife flew by Nao's face to slam into the sword, knocking it from her hand. As she reeled back Shizuku appeared, drawing the knife back by the connected chain as she advanced grimly.

"Oof!" Ryouka grunted as Sayaka grabbed her and fled, leaving the other two girls alone on the now deserted street.

"Well, that was fun," Nao sighed and dug out her cellphone to check on her sister and the others.

To be continued...


	5. Home and Away

Family

Five

Shizuku Sango was not a person that many people at school knew well. Yes, she was popular with the girls and boys side of the school, but that was mostly because of the image she projected. All the students saw was the image of the elegant big sister figure, and never saw what hid underneath that.

Which, honestly, Shizuku preferred, It was much easier to let people see what they wanted to see than actually try to relate to them honestly. Her few attempts to let people close hadn't ended all that well, after all. Her best friend Kaede went from a sweet, kind girl to a madwoman, while Natsuru... well, she liked Natsuru, but the young man was annoyingly unclear about his own feelings. Or her feelings, depending.

So when Nao Yuuki arrived, Shizuku was rather relieved at having such a amusing distraction come along. The redhead was attractive and quickly developed a fanclub of interested girls. She was someone who claimed to be very experienced, yet was vulnerable to teasing. And she was SO cute when she was flustered too. It was quite endearing, really.

She interviewed Nao after the first Kampfer attack, and later after a newspaper report outed Nao as gay friendly. Both times she had enjoyed teasing the younger woman, and she was faintly surprised at how easy it was to talk to her. She also had a sharp tongue and a lot of nerve, being willing to challenge Kaede like she did.

Later that same day she teased Nao at lunch, when they were discussing the danger of Kaede's White Kampfers. While it was fun making her blush, Shizuku was actually rather touched that Nao seemed concerned with her welfare. They walked home after school, and once again Nao startled her with her insights on Kampfer and their situation.

One of Shizuku's greatest frustrations was that no one seemed to ask questions about the Kampfers. No one seemed to wonder how supposed aliens were giving them magical bracelets. (And what about the talking stuffed animals?) Or for that matter why they were being compelled to fight to the death. There had to be more efficient ways to handle all this.

When Ryouka the machine gun using White Kampfer attacked them, Shizuku was taken by surprise. Not Nao, who shoved her down and quite possibly saved her from being shot in the head. She had laid there, stunned for a moment, even as the curvy redhead had laid sprawled over her. It had felt... surprisingly good, really.

She and Nao quickly handled Ryouka and her sword using ally, Sayaka, and the two women fled when Shizuku gave them the opportunity. Capturing them wasn't really a option, and killing them... well, again, not a option. The street was eerily quiet as they stood there, the only sounds cars off in the distance and Nao's phone as she called to make sure the others were fine.

"Looks like everyone made it home," Nao said briskly, but hiding her obvious relief, "they escorted Natsuru hone, then split up."

Shizuku smiled faintly as she noted, "Shouldn't that have been the other way around?"

"They're after Natsuru, I think the rest of us are just collateral damage," Nao noted dryly. She looked at Shizuku intently, "You all right?"

As she said that Shizuku realized that yes, she was a bit shaken by the battle. If Ryouka had managed to surprise them, it was quite possible she could have died. And as a long time survivor of the Kampfer wars she knew that death was very, very real for them all.

"Sit down for a minute," Nao suggested, gesturing to a nearby bench.

"I'm fine," Shizuku told her firmly, even as she drove away the feeling of fear. She didn't have time for it now, she could let herself feel it later.

"Then let ME sit down," Nao shot back. Shizuku looked at her in surprise as Nao continued, "Damn it, I nearly got shot and stabbed. With real weapons!"

"I'm sorry," Shizuku quietly apologized to her as they both sat down on the bench, taking a moment to recover.

Nao sat back with a sigh as she said, "You don't have to be that tough, you know." An amused look crossed her face and Nao laughed, "Not that I'm one to talk..."

Shizuku smiled, wondering what Nao was alluding to. She supposed it might have something to do with her 'delinquent' background. (Shizuku had seen her record when she transferred. Interestingly there were a lot of accusations of mischief, but very little proven. Shizuku rather suspected that the woman investigating Nao, Suzushiro, had rather lost her perspective on the girl.)

"I hadn't really considered that we were pulling you into our war, Nao," Shizuku admitted to her quietly, feeling slightly guilty.

Nao shrugged slightly, her expression actually rather amused. "My life in Fuka wasn't much more relaxed than here," she said dryly.

Shizuku raised her eyebrows, wondering what exactly had happened to Nao back at her school. "Anyway, thank you for everything you've done," she said with a smile.

"It's fine," Nao shrugged as they headed out.

Shizuku walked Nao to her home, and the two parted. Going home she sat in the window seat, looking out at the city as she considered what to do next. Yet as she sat there, something more... disturbing intruded on her thoughts.

When Nao has pressed her to the ground, bullets whizzing by them, Shizuku had felt a almost irresistible urge to pull her down into a kiss. Her heart had pounded as she looked up into those catlike eyes, and a surge of raw desire had made her weak.

'It was just a reaction from combat, soldiers have it all the time,' Shizuku tried to tell herself. Yet the urge to kiss Nao still remained...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Back at Fuka Academy, Nao Yuuki's former school, things were going in some... unusual directions. One of the more commonly known 'secrets' of the school was the Hime Festival, in which the girls possessed of Hime powers would be forced to fight each other until one was the victor.

However, the battle could not start without all the Hime being present.

Mashiro Kazahana hummed to herself cheerily, even as her counterpart Nagi just glared at her. "How could you let Nao leave the campus?" he demanded, the white haired boy looking much more aggravated than he usually let himself get.

"I had no choice," Mashiro smirked, "her father had every right to take custody of her."

"Arr." Nagi tore at his hair lightly in frustration. "I've worked YEARS to get everyone in place, and you..."

Mashiro quietly enjoyed herself as Nagi went incoherent in anger. She let him make various annoyed noises a while then sighed. "You need to calm down," she chided.

"Calm down?" Nagi yelped.

Mashiro looked at her servant and calmly said, "Fumi, slap him."

"Yes ma'am," the pink haired woman beamed. Before Nagi could react Fumi took two steps over to him and slapped him, firmly on the cheek and rocked his head back.

"What did you do that for?" Nagi complained.

"You were getting hysterical," Mashiro told him calmly.

Nagi took a few deep breaths, but strangely the slap had helped. He felt a bit more focused, his mind a bit clearer. "You know your supporters want the battle to happen too," he reminded her.

"I know," Mashiro conceded with a sigh.

Both she and Nagi represented factions with a stake in the Hime conflict. Nagi and his Obsidian Lord wanted the battle to happen so that they could claim the surviving Hime as a pawn. Mashiro and the priestesses that supported her wanted the power of the Hime to try to overturn the battle that had been waged for centuries. Neither simply wanted to call the whole thing off.

"You do know that I was serious when I said there is nothing I can do," Mashiro cautioned him. "Her father has every right to ask for custody."

Nagi scowled as he paced around the sitting room of Mashiro's mansion. ""I don't dare take action against the father," he muttered thoughtfully.

"Don't you dare consider that," Mashiro scowled at him. "It's against the rules our factions set, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Nagi waved a hand.

Fumi ignored his dramatics as she asked Mashiro, "More tea, mistress?"

|Yes," Mashiro nodded, "but something decaff for Nagi. He clearly doesn't need to be more excitable right now."

"Yes mistress," Fumi beamed.

Nagi glared at Mashiro, "Sure, yuk it up." He sighed as he paced, "We need all the Hime together to activate the red star..."

Mashiro sipped her tea, hoping he would NOT deduce what she had already figured out. There was a relatively simple solution to their problem, though implementing that solution would cause it's own headaches.

"Your tea," Fumi returned with the plate, "and I brought some cake too." She gave Nagi a much less friendly look, "Would you like milk? Or some water?"

"No," Nagi scowled back, "but bring me some cake." He paused, a odd look crossing his face as he muttered, "Bring..."

'Oh dear,' Mashiro thought, realizing that Nagi might have figured it out.

"We can't bring her back here," Nagi said excitedly, "but can we bring the Hime to HER?" He looked at Mashiro, "Can it work?"

Mashiro frowned as she considered the possibility she had hoped he would NOT consider. "We can start things there," she said after a moment, "but there are too many critical elements here and around Fuka. The final conflicts would have to be here."

"We can work around that," Nagi said excitedly, "All we have to do is get some of the Hime to go after Nao. Piece of cake."

Before he could ask Fumi told him cheerfully, "No, I will not leave my mistress's side."

"No." Natsuki Kuga told him later.

"No," Shizuru Fujino told him flatly.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha!" Midoi laughed. "No."

"Why would I want to hurt Nao?' Mai asked innocently.

"Will there be delicious food afterward?" Mikoto asked.

"No, Mikoto!" Mai yelped, dragging the other girl away.

"No," Yukino shook her head, even though she knew her girlfriend would probably support going after Nao.

"Damn," Nagi sighed, "this might be harder than I thought."

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

Family

Six

Nao lay in bed, for once savouring NOT having to get up early. It was the weekend, school was off and hopefully the ongoing Kampfer mess wouldn't intrude. While she liked Akane (and Shizuku, a little voice in her head noted) it really wasn't her problem.

"Nao, it's nearly time for breakfast," her stepmother, Michi, called from down stairs.

With a groan Nao sat up, scratching sleepily as she wondered what she was going to wear. Still in her slightly racy bra and panties she plodded to the bathroom, washed her face then headed back to her room, scandalizing her sister again. With a smirk she dressed in a simple set of sweats, knowing there were no plans to go out today.

Akane sighed as Nao came downstairs, but was relieved she wasn't in the shocking undies, still. "Good morning," she greeted her.

"Morning," Nao conceded as she headed for the kitchen and got herself a coffee.

"Good morning," Michi smiled gently.

Nao actually smiled a bit as she answered, "Morning."

Surprisingly Nao was developing a degree of respect for new new step-mother. I mean, she had had the resentful daughter of her husband's previous marriage dropped on her, and had been handling it like a trooper. Not that Nao would tell her that, of course.

Dad, amusingly, had been scampering off to work early. Nao rather suspected he was just trying the avoid actually dealing with her, instead leaving her to his poor wife. Yet another reason Nao didn't like or respect him much.

"Get seated and I'll dish up breakfast," Michi ordered briskly. She refused offers of help, as usual, and soon the whole group was ready to eat.

"Thanks for the food," Nao offered politely before eating.

Michi smiled, appreciating the gesture. As they ate she asked curiously, "How are you settling into school? Made any new friends yet?"

Nao thought about how to answer that. A honest, 'My sister has pulled me into a secret war between magical girls' answer probably wouldn't go over well. Instead she answered, "Fine, I think. Not too many friends yet, but Akane's have been very welcoming."

"I see," Michi nodded thoughtfully.

"And I met Akane's boyfriend too," Nao added impishly, "he's really cute."

"Hmm," Michi started then blinked. "Boyfriend?!" she looked at Akane.

"He is not!" Akane yelped. "We're just friends!"

"Oh really?" Nao asked, looking innocent, "Doesn't he walk you home?"

"He did do that yesterday," Michi conceded thoughtfully, giving Akane a speculative look. "Are we going to have to have the birds and the bees talk?"

"Oh god no," Akane whimpered.

Their back and forth banter was quite amusing, and Nao listened with amusement as she ate. Once all three women were done she volunteered to clear the table, then planned to head upstairs.

"Nice deflection," Michi noted as Nao passed her, "but we'll talk about this later."

"Right," Nao smiled wryly as she headed up to her room.

"Nao you're so mean," Akane sighed as she followed Nao upstairs.

"Well, you want him to be your boyfriend at least," Nao defended herself, "besides, maybe your mother could give you some man snaring tips."

"There's a unpleasant thought," Akane shuddered.

"Besides, you could probably give her tips, considering your collection of erotic manga," Nao teased her.

"I do not!" Akane protested, blushing furiously.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Nao smiled. The two girls diverted to Akane's room as they both went inside and Akane shut and locked the door. Nao quietly asked, "Did you have any trouble from the white Kampfer yesterday?"

"No, thankfully," Akane admitted, relieved. "I think I saw them shadowing us, but they must have decided not to act, yet."

"Or Kaede decided to go after me and Shizuku first," Nao muttered. She shook her head, "But that doesn't make sense!"

"Well, it sort of does," Seppuku Kuro Usagi offered, the stuffed bunny with a knife sticking out of it's guts sitting on the bed.

Nao glared at the doll. She didn't trust the thing, even though it had given Akane her powers. It was supposedly on their side, but it was also directly connected to the Moderators. His loyalties, frankly, were pretty questionable.

"What do you mean?" Akane had to ask.

The rabbit rather gratefully looked at her. "To Kaede, she had the advantage right up until Nao arrived. She might think taking her out will give her an edge," Seppuku Kuro Usagi explained.

"Well crap," Nao swore softly.

Akane paled visibly at that thought, but rallied quickly. "There could be other reasons they tried to jump you first," she said.

Nao grunted. And the little shit could be trying a divide and conquor tactic too. She wouldn't put it past the doll, really. "Doesn't really matter," Nao noted dryly, "I'm stuck here, remember? Unless I refuse to go to school, I'm going to continue to be caught up in this."

"You could avoid the Kampfers," Akane offered weakly.

Nao felt vaguely uncomfortable saying it but shot back, "Yeah, but them my life would be fucking boring."

Akane beamed and hugged her, "Nao!"

":Argh. Get off! Get off!" Nao growled.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Shizuku smiled to herself as she reached the small house. She had been here before a few times, their alliance of Kampfers usually met here, but this wasn't a business visit. Instead Shizuku was checking up on Nao... something she wasn't even sure was a good idea. Still, Nao HAD been pretty shaken up by yesterdays attack. And, if Shizuku was going to be honest with herself, she wanted to see the other woman again.

Calmly Shizuku pressed the buzzer, greeted the woman on the other end and introduced herself as Akane and Nao's friend. Which wasn't a lie, exactly, though 'acquaintance' might be more accurate. Still, it got her inside.

Michi was a attractive brown haired woman, presumably Akabe's mother. She also seemed oddly relieved to know Nao had friends. "I was worried about how Nao is settling in," Michi admitted as she lead Shizuku upstairs.

"I think she's quite popular, actually," Shizuku reassured her. "And personally I think she's very interesting," she added.

The older woman gave her a thoughtful look at that comment, but Michi didn't say anything. "I know Nao wasn't happy about coming here," she added, "I'm glad she has support, at least."

"I think she's getting over that," Shizuku said optimistically.

They reached Akane's door and Michi knocked firmly. "Girls?" she called, "You have a guest!"

Akane opened the door, blinking in surprise. She recovered fast, though, smiling as she said, "Shizuku, good to see you."

"Thanks for having me over," Shizuku bowed slightly.

Nao looked amused, and was in the CUTEST sweat pants and shirt. "Nice of you to drop in," she noted wryly.

"Have fun," Michi smiled, "do you want me to bring up drinks or anything?"

"No, it should be fine," Akane reassured her as they led Shizuku inside.

Once the door was shut and they were sure Michi was gone Nao asked, "What did you say to step-mom? She looked pretty happy having you here."

"Oh, I just told her how well you were fitting in and so on," Shizuku said smoothly.

Nao rolled her eyes, "In other words, you lied."

Shizuku just smiled faintly. She could tell Nao that she was popular at the school, but unless she believed it it wouldn't matter. Aloud she said, "I am sorry for dropping in on you like this."

"It's fine," Akane reassured her. "Is there trouble?"

"No, not exactly," Shizuku felt slightly sheepish as she admitted, "You seemed pretty shaken yesterday, Nao. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Nao?" Akane looked at her half sister in alarm.

"Calm down," Nao told her with a sigh, "I had a slight freak out over people shooting me with real bullets."

Akane winced. "I'm so sorry I got you into this," she started.

"Oh shut up," Nao sighed. "I jumped into your fight with my eyes open, all right? You don't have to feel guilty over my choices."

Shizuku smiled faintly, wondering if Nao even realized how... well, heroic she sounded. Probably not, she decided. Instead she simply said, "Well, personally I'm very grateful you are around."

Nao blushed slightly, then met her gaze defiantly. "All right, according to Akane we were the only ones attacked yesterday. Any idea why?" she asked.

"Divide and conquor, I would think," Shizuku answered steadily. "If Kaede is no longer as concerned with keeping our conflics secret she might have decided to eliminate the weakest targets. And there were just two of us."

"That's... a good point," Akane nodded, though she also looked worried.

"Better not tell Natsuru that," Nao said wryly, "he'll be heartbroken." She looked at Shizuku thoughtfully, "You okay? I know you two used to be close."

'She's more perceptive than she acts,' Shizuku noted. "I'll be fine," she reassured her. What they were going to do about Kaede was a harder question to answer, and she hoped Nao wouldn't ask.

To be continued.


	7. Chapter 7

Family

Seven

Kaede felt a surge of irritation as she considered her team of White Kampfer. The group of women looked sheepish under her gaze, not wanting to meet her eyes. "Who said you could attack Nao and Shizuku?" she demanded coldly.

Sayaka met her eyes nervously as the sword using woman said, "I'm sorry, mistress. I thought you would approve of our removing them."

"Shizuku is my friend, despite everything that has happened," Kaede said frostily. "I don't want to see her hurt unnecessarily."

"Sorry, mistress," Ryouka said timidly, the other White Kampfer looking deeply embarrassed by the whole situation.

Kaede sighed, wishing she had troops equal to the other Kampfers. Still, you had to make do with what you had. "Don't attack them for a few days," she said, "the school festival is coming up, and we'll all be occupied with that." Wryly she added, "Maybe after a break we'll be able to get at Natsuru easier, too."

"Yes ma'am," Rika Ueda said, the chain sickle user having popped up from nowhere the younger girl's long pink hair making her stand out.

"Ack!" Ryouka yelped in alarm. "Don't DO that!"

"Sorry," Rika shrugged mildly, even as the fourth White Kampfer, Hitomi Minagawa, lounged around in the background.

"All right everyone, settle down," Kaede said. She looked at Hitomi, the unofficial leader of her Kampfers as she ordered, "No more unauthorized attacks, got it?"

Hitomi nodded, the green haired magic user meeting her eyes coolly. "Not even if we can knock off that annoying Akane or Mikoto?" she asked impishly.

"Not even then," Kaede said to her firmly. She smiled as she mused, 'Besides, I have... plans for all the girls, this time.'

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"We're doing WHAT?" Nao Yuuki growled as she glared at her classmates.

Several members cringed, but a young woman spoke up. "The cosplay fashion show is held every year," she said, "I thought you knew."

"No, I did NOT know." Nao sighed, having only seen the notice as she was coming into school. "Why the heck am I entered in it?" she demanded.

Another girl offered, "I think the student council makes that decision, choosing from the most popular students..."

"Shizuku," Nao growled, instantly knowing who had entered her. Probably did it just for the amusement value.

"Well, the official notice has the time and place for the meeting and such," the other girl also pointed out reasonably.

"The Student Council offices. Of course," Nao sighed as she crumpled up the notice and stalked off irritably.

"She's so cute when she's angry," the class president sighed once Nao left. She looked at her VP, "Has anyone told her we're doing a maid cafe for the festival?"

"I seem to have forgotten to do that." she said innocently.

The President grinned, "Boy is she gonna be startled."

Unaware of her classmates plotting, Nao headed down the hallway while doing her best to ignore her fans. She was STILL getting love letters stuffed in her locker! Even after being as grouchy as possible to any girls trying to ask her out. You'd think SOMEONE would take the hint.

Nao blinked as she saw a familiar figure waiting out in the hall by the doorway. "You too, Natsuru?" she asked.

Natsuru smiled a bit sheepishly, the busty blue haired girl standing by the door. "Yeah, I did this last year too," she conceded.

Nao smirked as she drawled, "Enjoyed hanging out with the girls in the changing room?"

"Yes," Natsuru started then blushed, "no! I mean..."

Nao snickered as she saw another familiar figure walking up. "You too?" she asked her sister Akane with a wry smile.

"This is just too embarrassing," Akane sighed.

"Think Shizuku set this up?" Natsuru asked the others curiously, then stiffened visibly.

Nao turned to see one of the White Kampfer walking up, the slightly tomboyish one who fired energy bolts. "What are YOU doing here," Nao started then blinked as she added, "What the hell IS your name anyway?"

"Hitomi Minagawa!" she growled. A bit more plaintively she added, "Did no one think to tell you who I was?"

"I forgot," Akane shrugged while Natsuru looked embarrassed.

"Oy," Hitomi growled, shaking her head.

"Don't tell me we're all involved in this fashion show?" Natsuru asked plaintively.

Just then the door to the office opened, revealing a smiling Shizuku. And worryingly, a smiling KAEDE too. "Ah, you're here," Shizuku said breezily, "come in, the others are waiting."

"Others?" Nao asked as they headed in.

The usually empty student council room had several girls, most of whom Nao didn't recognize. Worryingly Mikoto was already there, as were two of the other White Kampfer. The two, it should be noted, who tried to whack her and Shizuku just a few days ago. Sadly with the normal students around there wasn't much they could DO about it.

"Do we HAVE to do this?" Sayaka asked, echoing what Nao was thinking earlier.

Kaede gave her a look that amounted to a non-verbal 'shut up'. "You were all nominated by your classes, and it would be cruel to refuse them," she added mildly.

"Not that you or Shizuku had any influence at all on the decision of who got picked." Nao noted dryly.

Kaede looked at her innocently, "Would we do that?"

ALL the Kampfers rolled their eyes at that. Both Kaede and Shizuku ignored the unspoken commentary while the other kids just looked confused. Shizuku also looked amused as she continued, "We'll be having each of you wear three costumes, a swimsuit, dress and formal wear. They will be fitted by the theatre department, who will also provide the cosplay element."

"Uhm, how extreme will the cosplay get?" Akane had to ask.

"Well, we want to attract kids from other schools to apply here," Kaede shrugged.

"Oh no," Ryouka whimpered softly

Nao was tempted to refuse to join in, but she just knew Shizuku would get her to do it somehow. The woman had a knack for manipulating people.

"Also, I'll be handing out plushies from the popular Entrail Animals collection after the contest," Kaede added with a smile.

Nao blinked as Natsuru, Akane and Shizuku visibly stiffened at THAT. Obviously, it was not a good thing. But why?

"All right everyone, here are the schedules for rehearsals," Shizuku said briskly, "now I think we all need to get back to class."

Before they could leave the green haired White Kampfer strode up. "We're going to have to work together for this," Hitomi said briskly, "no hard feelings?"

"Why you...!" Akane switched to Kampfer mode in a instant, the redhead lunging at her.

"Whoa, slugger!" Nao grabbed her half sister and kept her from doing something rash.

"I wanna cap the bitch," Akane growled, sounding more like Nao than usual.

"Akane, no," Nao said, then had a flash of brilliance, "you cap her, you go to jail and who gets to protect Natsuru?"

Akane relaxed a bit as she grumbled, "Now that's just playing dirty."

"Thanks," Hitomi said to Nao.

"Yeah, yeah," Nao waved that off, "keep your buddies under control and I'll try to keep mine. Fair enough?"

"Got it," Hitomi walked off to rejoin her companions.

They headed out together, knowing that Shizuku would be tied up with all the Student Council work for a bit. "Why did you all react when Kaede said she was going to pass out plushies?" Nao asked.

"That's where the White Kampfers came from," Mikoto told her grimly. "Do you think Kaede has decided it's time to get reinforcements?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Nao groaned. "What, she wants the harem set now? She already has a tomboy, tsundere and moe."

"And the loli with the sickle," Natsuru noted with some amusement.

"Could you please take this seriously?" Akane asked, thankfully no longer in Kampfer mode and no longer swearing up a storm.

"It's laugh or freak out," Natsuru said with a sigh.

"Can we just stop her from handing them out?" Nao asked reasonably. "One of us could either wreck them or hide 'em before she can pass them on."

"Could work," Mikoto admitted. She nodded thoughtfully, "We'll have to see how things go, of course, but I like it."

"Better tell Shizuku too," Akane said, "she looked as surprised as anyone over that announcement."

"Well, I need to get to class," Nao said reluctantly, "if only to find out what other trouble my classmates have gotten me into."

As they watched Nao trot off Mikoto asked the others, "Think she's heard about her class's maid cafe yet?"

"I haven't heard her scream in rage yet, so I'd guess no," Natsuru smiled.

To be continued...

Notes: There is a annoying lack of named characters in Kampfer. I may have to start making shit up.


	8. Chapter 8

Family

Chapter Eight

Yukino Kikukawa sighed as the brown haired, glasses wearing young woman rode in the limo into a small town. "I still think this is a very bad idea," she told her companion.

Haruka Suzushiro smiled, the taller and somewhat bustier girl sitting across from her. "I just want to make sure that delinquent Nao isn't causing trouble," she said firmly.

Yukino sighed again, wishing her friend wasn't so easy to manipulate. Nagi had realized he couldn't talk Yukino into confronting Nao, but that Haruha still bore a grudge. So he went to Haruka, implying Nao was getting into all kinds of trouble. And Yukino couldn't let her go alone, could she? So Haruka made arrangements with her father, and off they went.

Haruka looked at Yukino sympathetically. She hated dragging her friend away from her studies, but there was no one she trusted more to watch her back. "What do you think about Nagi's comment that Nao had joined a gang?" she asked.

"I don't think I trust Nagi, so...," Yukino shrugged.

"He IS a little creep," Haruka agreed.

And 'gang' was a understatement. Nagi had explained to Yukino a bit about the Kampfer conflict going on, and she was more than a bit alarmed about Haruka wandering into this mess. These women were trying to kill each other with real weapons! The only good thing was they were trying to MOSTLY keep the conflict covert, so they didn't try to kill each other in public. If she and Haruka stayed in the open they should be safe. Mostly.

"I think we should try to talk to the student council president first," Haruka mused as they pulled up to the school, "then see where we stand."

If Yukino didn't know better, she would SWEAR that Shizuku Sango and Shizuru Fujino were related. Yes, Shizuku had dark blue hair, much unlike Shizuru's brown, but they both had that sort of laid back attitude that infuriated someone like Haruka. Worse, Shizuku seemed even more mischievous than Shizuru.

They were directed to the student council offices, where Shizuku had opened with the bombshell, "Ah, Miss Suzushiro. I've heard SO much about you."

Yukino REALLY didn't like her tone of voice, nor did Haruka.

"What do you mean by that?" Haruka demanded.

Shizuku leaned forward, "You chased Nao Yuuki for over a year, and not only failed to catch her, you never even proved a single complaint against her." She smirked, "Watch Les Miserables. You might see someone familiar."

"Lavort?" Haruka said flatly.

"Javert," Yukino corrected with a sigh.

Haruka ignored that, "Just because I never proved Nao was bad doesn't mean she wasn't." She got up from where she was sitting, "I was planning to come here as a courtesy to you, warning you of possible trouble. Clearly there is no point in that."

"Excuse us," Yukino said as they left.

"Suzushiro," Shizuko said as they reached the door, "whatever your feelings, this school and town are a fresh chance for Nao. Don't spoil it for her."

Haruka paused a second, then they both carried on.

"Haruka?" Yukino asked as they headed down the hallway.

"I'm fine, Yukino," Haruka replied flatly. She scowled, "Well, she's right... the best I ever managed was catching Nao sneaking on and off campus." Seriously she added, "Doesn't mean I'm wrong though."

Yukino sighed, "Yes, Haruka."

They carefully checked out Nao's class, then stopped in at the school office. Despite Haruka pulling rank as Fuka Academy's head of security etc etc, they were unable to get access to any official documents. In fact, the secretary got rather cross with them, forcing them to leave.

"Well, that was annoying," Haruka growled as they headed out to the still waiting car.

"I was able to find her current address, from the transfer documents at Fuka," Yukino offered a bit reluctantly, "do you want to go there?"

"No, I think we should probably go to the hotel," Haruka said thoughtfully, "we can look into things more thoroughly tomorrow."

"Okay," Yukino nodded, faintly relieved.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"I should have been more polite," Shizuko admitted regretfully as she finished explaining to Nao about what happened.

"What the hell is she doing out here?" Nao muttered, shaking her head.

Akane looked confused, "So, this volunteer cop never busted Nao for anything, and has followed her out here for revenge?"

"Nothing THAT dramatic, I think," Shizuko told her wryly. "But yes, she seems interested in completing their unfinished business."

"That doesn't really make sense tho," Nao pointed out. "I mean, yes she can trash my reputation here, maybe. But what's the point? She isn't the type to be that interested in revenge."

"Well, maybe," Shizuko noted, amused. It was kind of funny that someone who claimed to be as tough and cynical as Nao didn't consider avenging one's honour a good reason to get revenge. Changing the subject a bit she asked, "Do you want us to take steps?"

"Steps?" Nao blinked.

"Akane-chan here could go shoot up their hotel room," Shizuku suggested innocently, "I suspect that would get them out of town."

"No!" Nao yelped.

"No," Akane agreed, but much more mildly. Almost as if she had been thinking of doing just that, before Shizuko brought it up.

"You might want to warn your mother she might be coming around, too," Shizuko added.

Nao made a face, "You're right. Akane, we'd better go before they show up at the house."

"Right," Akane hurried to follow Nao out the door.

Shizuko tried to go back to her paperwork, but something nagged at her. Why HAD she been so snarky with Suzushiro? If she had just... charmed the other woman, she might have gotten valuable intelligence from her. At worse, she might at least have been better able to keep track of her.

'Is it just because she came here to cause trouble for Nao?' Shizuko made herself ask. If so, that had... troubling implications. She had thought that she was maintaining a degree of detachment towards Nao, but that might not be true.

Nao was disturbingly charming to Shizuko, frankly. She had a unique combination of innocent youth and hard edged street tough that was very beguiling to her. And, frankly, she was damn cute.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Yukino looked into the connected suite that they were sharing. (Oh did Yukino wish they were sharing one room! Especially one bed. But she didn't have the nerve to ask and she didn't know if Haruka went that way.) Haruka was on the phone with a local contact of her father, looking for possible leverage to make Shizuko cooperate.

"I'm going out for some snacks," Yukino told her then asked, "do you want me to get your usual curry buns?"

"Please," Haruka smiled back, "and be careful out there. No idea where those gangs Nagi talked about are."

"I will," Yukino nodded, feeling faintly guilty about lying to her.

Instead of going out to the street Yukino headed up to the hotel roof. It took a bit of time to jimmy the lock, but she got out onto the roof, looking out over the city.

"Diana!" Yukino cried, summoning her childe. The creature, the servant of a Hime, manifested as Yukino summoned up a series of mirrors around her to search the city. Images streamed by, even as Diana hid them from view.

Shizuko was in bed, doing...

"Eeep!" Yukino quickly turned that one off.

Using her mirrors, she quickly found the Kampfer she knew about, including Akane and Natsuru. Nagi's briefing had been good for something, at least. But annoyingly she couldn't seem to lock on Nao at all.

"Where are you...?" Yukino muttered to herself.

"Right here," a calm voice replied.

Yukino spun around, cursing softly as Nao stepped out from behind a utility building on the rooftop, the redhead standing calmly beside her spider-like childe, Julia. She looked more amused than hostile, so that was a good sign.

"I climbed up here to wait for you," Nao admitted, "I didn't expect you to come up here and summon your Diana."

"So why are you here?" Yukino demanded.

"To talk, oddly enough," Nao admitted, and in a move of good faith banished Julia, making the giant spider disappear in a flash of sparkles.

Yukino blinked, more than a bit surprised. She banished Diana, too, but kept the mirrors around. She could black a attack with them, if worse came to worse. "All right," Yukino said, "talk."

"I don't want to fight you or any of the other Hime," Nao said. "I'm out of that, and I intend to stay out of it."

"Nagi won't let that happen," Yukino shook her head, "the little creep has already manipulated me to come out here. If I don't fight you there will be others."

"The only one who actually benefits if we fight each other is Nagi," Nao pointed out. "don't give him the satisfaction."

Yukino hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "I can't stop Haruka from causing you trouble," she said with a sigh.

"I can handle that," Nao laughed. She went to the side of the building and leaped, "Don't forget Haruka's curry bun!"

'How the hell did she...?' Yukino wondered, then with a sigh banished the mirrors. She had a errand to run, after all.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Family

Chapter Nine

Natsuru actually kind of enjoyed the quiet as the plots swirled around Nao. Not that he wished her misfortune or anything, of course... but at least the craziness wasn't focused on him for once.

"So, is the crazy lady still in town?" Natsuru asked as they walked to school together.

"She's not crazy," Nao defended Haruka wryly then clarified, "she's a little obsessive, yes. But not actually crazy."

"Crazy enough," Akane scowled.

"And yeah, she's still hanging around," Nao added with a sigh. She didn't mention her visiting with Yukino to them... there was no point. Besides, she HOPED Yukino could make Haruka see sense and get out of town.

"Are they a threat?" Natsuru had to ask.

"Yukino is," Nao willingly admitted, "she has abilities like mine, but more like a spy than Spider-Man."

"And Haruka?" Akane wondered.

"She has money and various types of influence," Nao nodded as she shrugged, "but at least she won't shoot at me."

"You hope," Natsuru sighed. "It's kind of nice to have someone around who's life is as messed up as mine is."

"Natsuru!" Akane scolded while Nao just laughed.

Innocently Natsuru asked, "So what's the class doing for the festival?"

That made Nao scowl again. "Damned maid cafe," she growled. "I bet the uniforms will be sexy as hell, too, just from what I've seen in this crazy school..."

Akane laughed merrily at that. "Pretty much," she agreed, "and there's that cosplay fashion show we're doing too."

"Oh that's gonna be marvelous," Nao sighed.

They arrived at school, the place bustling as usual as Natsuru went over to the boy's side of the school to make a appearance. After that he'd switch to Kampfer mode and head over to the girl's side of the school too.

Back in her class, Nao noted the cafe decorations were coming along. Given a choice between decorating and being a maid for the cafe Nao had picked maid, but she wasn't thrilled about it. She still hadn't seen the outfits they had chosen, but expected them to be sexy.

Junko Yamakawa looked amused as she asked, "I see you're being kept busy."

For a moment Nao thought she was talking about the whole Hime and Kampfer situation, then realized she meant the cafe and cosplay fashion show. "Oh yeah," she sighed, "I have to go to the theater department after class for sizing, AND we still haven't seen the maid uniforms yet."

"I think they're ready, at least according to the class president," Junko noted. "Do you want to ask her about it?"

"Better get the bad news now," Nao agreed.

The President looked kind of like a cornered rat as the two girls walked up to her. The fact that Nao ran in the circles of both the incredibly popular Student Council President AND the very popular Kaede was getting around. So yeah, crossing her might NOT be a good plan.

Still, she mustered a confident smile. "Why, hello Nao. Junko. What can I do for you today?" she asked.

"I heard the maid outfits were ready," Junko noted, "can we get a preview?"

The Prez paused, "Well, yes. Uhm..."

'That bad?' Nao thought. "Do you have one of them? I thought I might try it on," she offered.

The president looked torn, but after a moment nodded. "The size SHOULD be right," she said as she offered up the bundle, "and you can use the closet to change."

"I could make a 'out o the closet' joke, but Nao would hit me," Junko offered wryly.

"Shut up," Nao ordered as she stalked off.

"How bad is it?" Junko asked the Prez pointedly as Nao changed.

"It's not BAD," the President defended herself, "but it's... uhm... short."

"Short," Junko echoed.

The President flushed. "And kind of... low cut," she admitted.

"oh hell...," Junko sighed and waited for Nao to emerge.

Nao came out of the closet looking decidedly annoyed. "Someone is gonna die," she growled as she walked towards the Prez.

Several girls wolf whistled, which did NOT help her mood. The maid outfit had the traditional parts of a maid costume, with frills, a top, skirt and apron along with a cute hat. However the skirt was VERY short, pretty much a mini-skirt, and just barely covered her panties. And while the top was traditional looking, the v-neck went WAY down.

"Ah, you look lovely," the President said frantically.

"I look like a bit character in a H-anime," Nao scowled. She tugged down the skirt self consciously, "Let me guess, the outfits are already ordered and we can't change 'em?"

"Pretty much," the President agreed.

"Arrgh," Nao growled out.

Junko smiled, "We'll be a BIG hit with the boy's side of the school." Quietly she added, "A lot of the girls too."

"I am bringing in my own apron, for this," Nao scowled.

"Hold that pose!" a girl called then a camera flashed.

"Hey!" Nao yelped.

"Thanks!" Masumi from the newspaper club beamed, then fled when she saw the peeved look on Nao's face.

"Get back here," Nao started to go after her, then realized how bad an idea running in the halls in this outfit would be. "Crap," she growled and hurried back to the closet to change.

"Wonder if I can get a copy of the photo?" the president wondered quietly.

"Get in line," Junko shrugged. Thoughtfully she added, "Getting that photo may not be a problem anyway, actually."

"Oh?" the President asked.

"Wanna bet it'll be in the next paper?" Junko mused.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Oh MY," Shizuku Sango purred as the student council president opened the paper to find a VERY large photo of Nao on page two.

It was a candid, un-posed shot. Nao was turning slightly, the little skirt barely covering her panties, while the top lovingly cupped her small but pert breasts. That, along with sexy long legs and a surprised look made for a very hot picture.

'Wonder if Nao killed the photographer?' was the second or third thought that occurred to Shizuku. Tho she hadn't heard of the police being summoned...

Checking around determined that the photograph takinbg student had wisely skipped school today. Walking the halls before class Shizuku determined a LOT of girls had the photo posted in their lockers, and she suspected it was as popular over in the boy's side too. Nao was going to be peeved, she suspected.

"Nao," Shizuku caught up with her at lunch as she teased, "I see you haven't dismembered any reporters yet?"

Nao gave her a flat look. "Thought about it," she conceded, "but I'd look awful in orange."

Mikoto laughed, the young woman having returned from yet another overseas trip with her dad. It was nothing to do with the author forgetting the sword using Kampfer after she was re-introduced several chapters ago. Really.

Akane sighed, "I can never tell if you're joking about things like that."

"Safer to assume she's not?" Natsuru offered.

"Anyway, I figured she dropped the picture off with the newspaper club pretty much as son as she took it," Nao pointed out, "short of my terrorizing the entire club, there's no way I was going to not have that photo printed."

"You could have asked me," Shizuku noted, "I have some influence, after all." She was actually a bit... wounded that Nao hadn't thought of coming to her. I mean, yes they were new friends, but still...

Nao seemed to pick up on that as she gave a faintly sheepish smile. "Next time a peeping tom photographs me, I'll call you," she promised.

"Thanks," Shizuku smiled back.

To be continued...


End file.
